Events – The 6th Annual Transfer Banked Slalom

Over 200 snowboarders flocked to Thredbo Resort on Saturday, August 17 for the 6thAnnual Transfer Banked Slalom…A gathering of the tribe like no other.

Conditions couldn’t have been better! No wind, blue skies, sunshine and an incredible course thanks to the hard work of the Thredbo Terrain Parks crew.

A giant UFO crash landed in Thredbo the night before the event, making for an awesome feature at the top of the course. All snowboarders had to manoeuvre their way through the UFO in order to make sure they had the best line down the course.

Thredbo Resort and the Thredbo Terrain Parks crew worked all week to put on what was the best course to date. Thanks to all the fresh snow that’s fallen over the past ten days, the berms we’re super high, allowing all riders to generate lots of speed and flow…the perfect combo for a banked slalom event.

Thredbo’s park crew built a perfect course. Photo: Thredbo

The theme for this year’s event was “intergalactic” and competitors embraced the theme with outfits that were out of this world. From NASA space suits to crazy and colourful aliens, it was an awesome atmosphere throughout the entire event.

There were a variety of different categories, giving all snowboarders the chance to enter and have a crack at taking home the gold and bragging rights as Australia’s fastest snowboarder!

The Grommets killed it, with the biggest category yet, it was so awesome to see so many kids racing the course showing off talent well beyond their years! The future of Australian snowboarding is looking very, very bright. A huge shout out to Abbey Wilson who took out the fastest time in both the boys and girls grommet category with 46.60…go girl!

The Masters sure gave it a nudge, amongst all the banter was some serious fast-paced racing! Marguerite Cossettini came out on top as the fastest female in the very talented Masters Women category with an impressive time of 47.80 seconds. The Masters Men category was just as heated as the Open Men’s…it was Mark Cowley that came out on top this year, with precision, flow and excellent line choice through the course, nailing a solid time of 42.88 seconds.

Valentino Guseli, high speed and full throttle. Photo: Thredbo

The women showed the boys a thing or two, all dominating the course and riding perfect lines all the way down to the finish line. The star of the day was young gun Georgia Baff, taking out the Open Women’s category with a 44.85 closely followed by Biba Turnbull and Saeko Kimura all the way from Hokkaido, Japan.

Honourable mention goes out to Emily Elston, who hands down took out the stack award.

This year some huge names in snowboarding came out to have a crack at the banked slalom and enjoy the unique course. Burton International Pro, Marko Grilic graced the event with his presence alongside other big names like Jarryd Hughes, Valentino Guseli, Nate Johnstone, Robbie Warden and lots more.

It was as heated as it gets in the Open Men’s category with over 70 riders all fighting for a spot on the podium, it was weird vibe between riders, friendly but also super competitive, and the banter was next level.

It was Rip Curl pro-rider and all-round legend Nate Johnstone that took out first place with an amazing time of 41.32 seconds! In second place was Transfer cover boy and Threbdo ambassador Jye Kearney who raced a solid run getting him a time of 41.32. In third place was silver Olympic medallist Jarryd Hughes with another awesome time of 41.86. It was the closest in times the podiums ever been…It was a battle of the boards like no other.

All in all, it was an awesome day of racing, banter and lots and lots of good vibes. Massive thanks to Thredbo, Rip Curl, Red Bull and Capita and all of the 200 plus competitors that made the day so awesome! Bring on next year…See you at the starting gate.

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